United States President Donald Trump acknowledged that his government's deportation policy may have been “too strict” and said he believed it was possible to reach an agreement on immigration with Democrats, who won control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections.
The statement was made to the CBS program “60 Minutes”, in Trump's first major interview since the defeat of the Republicans in the so-called midterms. The president stated that immigration policy was one of the factors that contributed to the unfavorable result for the party.
“I think it could be very strict, yes,” Trump said when asked about his deportation policy.
The president also stated that he believes it is possible to negotiate with the new Democratic majority in Congress. "The agreement would be that we would reach a consensus. And I think that is something really viable", he declared.
Despite the nod to possible moderation, Trump appointed, shortly after the interview was recorded, Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff. Miller is considered one of the main architects of the Republican's hard-line immigration policies.
Until then deputy chief of staff and one of the president's main advisors, Miller will replace Susie Wiles. The change comes after Trump stated that he wanted to “promote a change” in the government in the face of the Republican defeat in the legislative elections.
'The father of the wall'
Stephen Miller was behind some of the most controversial immigration measures of the first Trump administration, including the construction of the wall on the border between the United States and Mexico, which earned him the nickname “father of the wall”.
Miller was also involved in banning citizens from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States and in the policy of separating thousands of children from their families who attempted to enter the country illegally.
In the current government, Miller suggested targets of 3,000 arrests of irregular immigrants per day.
The choice was criticized by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who pointed out a contradiction between Trump's statement on immigration policy and Miller's promotion.
"Trump says his immigration crackdown has gone too far. Apparently his solution was to put the person responsible for it in charge of the White House. This is not a course correction. It's a promotion," Schumer wrote on social media.
The repression of immigration was among the main pillars of Trump's return to the White House and resulted in a significant increase in arrests in operations carried out in different cities.
Two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal agents during protests against these operations.
With control of the new Congress, Democrats say that monitoring the actions of the Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security will be a priority.
In the interview, Trump defended the deportation of “murderers” and “drug traffickers” who are in the country illegally, but signaled that he could accept an agreement to allow other immigrants to remain.
The president cited as examples people who work in landscaping companies or hotels and, in some cases, pay taxes.
2028 election
In the same interview, Trump also spoke about the dispute for the Republican candidacy for President in 2028 and indicated that he may be left out of the choice of his successor.
When asked if he would support any candidate, he replied:
“Probably, but not necessarily.”
Trump said the Republican Party has a “formidable bench” and said he maintains good relations with several potential candidates. When asked about names other than Vice President JD Vance, the president mentioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio, identified as another possible candidate for the White House.
"I think Marco is great. But there are many others and I prefer not to mention their names. There are some senators who are excellent. I know them all, I like them a lot."
Then he added:
"So I may or may not get involved. I don't know. Maybe it's better not to get involved."
Wealth Growth
Trump was also asked about the growth of his assets during his new term. Democrats have tried to make the president's personal wealth a midterm election campaign issue.
According to the AP Voter Poll, about half of American voters said government corruption was a “crucial” issue in determining their vote for Congress.
Asked about the $3 billion increase in his net worth since returning to the White House, Trump said he doesn't follow the matter closely and that his children run the family business.
"I hardly dedicate time to my net worth. I don't care. I earn, I have a lot of money, much more than I ever imagined. And I think it's even increased. I don't even know for sure," he said.
When asked whether investors from other countries could be putting money into the family company to try to buy influence, Trump replied: “I don’t know.”
Finally, when asked if he could pardon his political opponents, Trump said it would be easy to answer positively, but said he probably wouldn't be able to do so.
“I probably can’t do that, no, because I hate some of my enemies, and I always will.”
*With information from AP.
